Trump’s All-Tariff Revenue Plan Won’t ‘Starve the Beast’
I know where he got this idea. He has am economics degree from the Wharton school and economists have long pointed out that the best tariff is a uniform one. It raises revenue without distorting resource allocation while giving ALL American industry some protection from imports. In these days of both general and political supply-chain issues, protecting domestic production has taken on some urgency. If you need a spare part for your car, would you rather it be coming from Dearborn or on a slow boat from China?
So the idea has much to recommend it even though it violates strict "free trade" principles. Sometimes security matters more than money. So, as usual, Trump has the right ideas for the times and ideas that step outside the usual boring old ideas of the Left.
And extending the idea to where the IRS can be abolished has enormous appeal and is an idea that I have often mulled. In an economy as large as America it could well be workable without seriously affecting the availability of goods and services. Capitalistic American businesses would leap at the opportunities opened up
During his recent trip to Capitol Hill, former President Donald Trump floated a plan to finance the federal government in large part with revenue raised by import tariffs. The details are sketchy, but the proposal’s main idea is to rely much less on the complex U.S. income tax code, which penalizes work and imposes huge compliance costs on both individual and business taxpayers.
The former, and possibly future, president’s idea draws attention to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century U.S. public finance, when, in fact, tariffs ranked among America’s principal sources of government revenue, along with the proceeds from selling public lands and from imposing selective excise taxes on consumer goods—most notoriously Alexander Hamilton’s tax on alcohol, which triggered the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion. The national government was of course much smaller then.
It was not until the 1860s, when Abraham Lincoln’s Treasury levied taxes on income to help support the Union’s military operations, that Americans first faced such levies. Although Lincoln’s income tax was declared unconstitutional, the ratification of the 16th Amendment on February 3, 1913—one of the fruits of an earlier Progressive Era—made income taxes a fact of life.
Individual income taxes have accounted for more than half of the federal government’s revenue ever since ($1.7 trillion of the $3.3 trillion total raised in fiscal year 2024). Payroll taxes to finance the New Deal’s Social Security and the Great Society’s Medicare programs rank second (34.3% of total federal receipts). Import tariffs (“customs duties”) generate only $48 billion nowadays, just 1.5% of the total. The Trump plan would stand this on its head.
Implementing Trump’s all-tariff revenue plan would require a major retooling of American public finance. I and many other taxpayers would cheer the elimination of income-tax withholding and doing away with the intrusive and reviled Internal Revenue Service (IRS), some of whose criminal investigating “special agents” are authorized, as we recently were reminded, to carry firearms.
No one has estimated the level of tariff rates necessary to offset $3.3 trillion in income tax revenue that possibly would be “lost” under Trump’s plan. Would some tariffs be set at 100% of a product’s pre-tariff domestic price, as the Biden White House recently recommended for electric vehicles imported from China to “protect American manufacturers from [China’s] unfair trade practices”?
Tariffs are simply taxes that domestic consumers pay when they purchase goods from overseas. If a tariff is set high enough, imports could drop to zero, along with any anticipated tariff (tax) revenue. Many Americans willingly pay 69 cents a pound for bananas; how many would pay $1.40 a pound? Or think big: The base price for a 2024 Porsche Boxster is currently $70,400; would you pay $140,800 for the identical car?
Like income taxes, there are ways to avoid tariffs. Tariffs encourage smuggling, for example, which would likely lead to the hiring and deployment of more customs agents. During colonial times and other high-tariff periods, customs agents often were as abusive as today’s IRS agents.
Tariffs imposed by one country also invite retaliation by others—a tit-for-tat among trading partners known as “countervailing duties.” The problem is: Tariff wars shrink international trade, increasing their harmful economic effects. Many economists are convinced that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, along with other domestic policy blunders, triggered the Great Depression, or at the very least made it worse.
Despite the harm they cause, tariffs appeal to politicians because it gives them an opportunity to do what they do best: give away goodies to special interests at public expense.
The recipients in this case are domestic manufacturers and suppliers—and especially their unionized employees, who in an open, competitive marketplace often can’t compete with overseas producers of the same or similar products. Tariffs exploit the power of government to raise the costs of those overseas products, giving advantage back to the locals. While domestic producers (and their employees) might gain from protectionism, consumers lose, especially low-income consumers, who can least afford the higher prices.
Asking tariffs to replace income taxes and other federal revenue sources asks the wrong question. The right question is whether government is too large. If the answer is “yes,” tariffs would be a plus if they generate less revenue than other methods of public finance.
Unfortunately, in addition to taxing, Washington has other options for financing its profligate spending, including borrowing. The beast cannot be starved—a mantra of tax reformers during the 1980s—if those options remain on the table.
https://heartlanddailynews.com/2024/06/trumps-all-tariff-revenue-plan-wont-starve-the-beast/
*********************************************A wise woman
“I bet he won’t even notice,” I whispered to myself as I scrubbed. It was deep cleaning day and the older I get, the more stuff I want to throw away.
I grabbed a trash bag in preparation.
One by one, I removed items from the edge.
I cleaned that shower and tub until all marks were removed.
It looked brand new.
And it looked bare.
I picked up the truck, ready to toss it, but my heart couldn’t do it.
“There won’t always be toys on the side of the tub,” I told myself.
I knew I needed this reminder.
To slow down.
To soak it in.
To cherish this clutter because one day, too soon, I won’t have to throw toys away because he’ll do it himself.
I put back the rubber duckies and said hello to the trucks. I carefully placed his goggles, the ones he so diligently uses to search for undersea creatures in his soapy bathwater, back on the edge of that spotless tub.
“Thanks for cleaning my toys, Mom!” he shrieked that night as he got ready for bed.
I hugged him and thanked God for another day filled with a little boy and his little toys.
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Study Shows Israel Supplied ‘Sufficient’ Food to Gaza
Any "famine" is HAMAS-created
The International Criminal Court has accused Israel of causing “deliberate starvation” in Gaza, but the prosecutor might want to read this report.
Yesterday we reported on one of the many problems with International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister. Namely, the fact that there is scant evidence of the “deliberate starvation” that forms the heart of the ICC’s case, and that Khan ignores abundant evidence that Hamas is hoarding food and medical supplies.
Now, a new study published by the Hebrew University’s Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science, and Nutrition brings clarity to the contested question of food security in the Gaza strip. The working paper analyzed the adequacy of the food supply Israel has facilitated into Gaza since January. And the results are devastating to Khan’s case.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was conducted in conjunction with four other Israeli universities and the country’s ministry of health and found that “the quantity and quality of food delivered to Gaza have steadily improved and diversified since January 2024” and that “the food supply contains sufficient energy and protein for the population’s needs.”
Specifically, the Israeli researchers found that on average, between January and April, 124 trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid entered Gaza per day. That adds up to 3,211 calories worth of nutrition per Gazan, per day. The World Health Organization standard for calorie consumption is 2,900 per day for average-sized men and 2,200 per day for average-sized women.
“Contrary to claims that Israel has deliberately starved Gaza, Israel has gone to considerable lengths to facilitate food aid delivered to Gaza,” the authors write.
One of those authors, Aron Troen, a professor of nutrition science and public health at Hebrew University, told The Free Press, “We wanted to understand what the reality was. To do so we obtained the registry of each and every truck that has entered Gaza through the two southern land routes from January to April.”
Troen said that there were serious problems with a previous UN study on food security in Gaza, published in March, that claimed a famine was “imminent” in the northern part of the territory. For example, it did not examine the steps that Israel had taken to open humanitarian corridors and land routes into the territory.
This raises an important question for Khan and the International Criminal Court. If it’s true, as World Food Program director Cindy McCain recently said, that there is a famine in northern Gaza, who is to blame? Israel has been allowing food to enter Gaza, but as I reported Tuesday, the Israelis have documented how that food is commandeered by Hamas and hoarded for its families.
Troen said the group’s findings “raise significant questions about the failure of the international aid agencies to deliver the food and hold Hamas accountable for their disruption to distribution.”
Perhaps Khan would have benefited from the insights in the new working paper. One Israeli defense official told The Free Press that his government is prepared to share the paper with the court’s investigators.
https://www.thefp.com/p/study-israel-supplied-sufficient-food-gaza
******************************************************Australia: Major IVF company accused of using 'wrong sperm' to create children and failing to warn of donor's potential genetic issues
This is a real horror story. Any case of an IVF clinic using the "wrong" sperm shows unbelievable lack of care. It is particularly poignant to me because, for medical reasons, my wife and I used IVF to conceive our son, and QFG was the clinic we used
Fortunately our son is now tall, bright and good looking but the donor sperm issue does not arise in our case. But what if QFG had mixed up my sperm with someone else's? On the account below they might have. Fortunately my son has characteristics that are identifiablly from me so there is no doubt about the matter.
Hospitals normally do multiple and repeated checks to see that the right treatrment is paired with the right patient so it seems to me that the mistakes reported below are clear evidence of negligence. QFG did NOT use the orthodox heavy precautions. Instead of being defensive about the matter, QFG should be energetically trying to track down the erring staff members
Anastasia and Lexie Gunn love their three children no matter what, but the mystery of what went wrong with their conception at one of Australia's biggest fertility clinics haunts them.
"We had IVF and got the wrong sperm," Lexie said.
"It's shattered what we all believe to be true."
Their three sons were conceived through donor sperm at the Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) between 2006 and 2014.
The couple paid for the same donor to be used for each child.
But DNA testing now shows their oldest son is not biologically related to their two younger boys, who have both been diagnosed with serious health conditions.
Anastasia and Lexie discovered their two younger children were not related to their older brother.(Four Corners: Ron Foley)
"It's a catastrophic error … how could they have used the wrong sperm to make children?" Anastasia said.
A Four Corners investigation into the lucrative IVF industry has found when things go wrong, corporate giants like QFG don't always own up. There's a lack of transparency and companies aren't being held to account.
'There was no match'
When Anastasia selected a sperm donor for her family in 2006, she took great care. "I went to QFG and they had a big book with the donor profiles."
"There's an age bracket for the donor, their educational background … and the health history as well. Medical background was definitely of concern to me."
Anastasia decided on Donor 227 — a fit, healthy Caucasian male 25–30 years old.
Four years after their first son was born, Anastasia and Lexie decided to have more children.
"We contacted QFG to check that we could use the same donor," Anastasia said. "We wanted them all to have the same biological father to tie them together so that then when they have children, their children are all tied together with biological history."
The couple had two more sons, born two years apart. Both had serious health issues from birth.
"Our middle child is diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome," Anastasia said. "Our youngest son … has joint hypermobility syndrome also. He also has a diagnosis on the autism spectrum and ADHD."
As the diagnoses kept adding up, Anastasia and Lexie wanted to find out if other children of Donor 227 had similar problems.
They sent their sons' DNA to an ancestry website to connect with other families.
The results floored them. "I was completely perplexed," Anastasia said. "I could see that there was no match between our eldest boy and our younger two."
At first, QFG doubted the reliability of DNA results from the ancestry site. Anastasia and Lexie then had their children tested at an accredited DNA testing lab used by the Family Law Court. Those results were the same.
"[QFG] have not provided any response to that legal DNA testing whatsoever," Anastasia said. "They have offered no rationale."
QFG maintains that its records show the same donor was used for all three children.
QFG is owned by Australia's largest IVF provider, Virtus Health, which has clinics all around the country. The fertility giant was taken over by private equity firm BGH Capital in 2022 following a heated bidding war.
Embryologist and IVF Patient Advocate Lucy Lines said the big business of baby-making had changed the way corporate clinics responded to mistakes. "I suspect that possibly profits are impacting the way these things are handled," she said.
Emeritus Professor Bill Ledger, a fertility specialist who's worked for 30 years in public and private IVF clinics, said transparency was vital when errors occurred.
"If you have a clinic or clinics where mistakes keep happening, then there has to be a significant inquiry and that should be external and it should be visible and 100 per cent transparent," he said.
There is a national regulator, the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC), but it isn't independent. RTAC is part of the industry-funded peak body the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand.
RTAC's primary role is to audit clinics against a Code of Practice and grant licences that allow IVF companies to claim millions of dollars in Medicare rebates.
"RTAC has no power to govern the corporate nature of IVF," Ms Lines said. "It looks after the scientific and the medical side of the clinics. And they're very well-respected in that space, but when it comes to the corporate decisions of the businesses, they don't have that power."
Single mum Danielle Patorniti has her own battle against QFG. She's fighting to warn other parents.
Danielle's son was conceived with donor sperm. He was diagnosed with level 3 autism spectrum disorder, the most severe form, as well as hypermobility, ADHD and apraxia of speech.
In 2019, she informed QFG of her son's medical update.
"Early intervention is so important," Danielle said. "I thought there was a process where the information was passed on [to other families]."
At the time, QFG told her there were no other reports of medical issues with the donor's offspring.
Two years later, Danielle connected with another mum who'd used the same donor to conceive her son. Nikita Taylor's child also had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, speech delays and ADHD.
"We started comparing them … and they were almost identical. Different severities but identical presentations," Nikita said. "That's when we started getting worried that other families needed to be contacted."
Danielle and Nikita asked QFG to share information about their sons' matching health issues with other families. But QFG determined there was no clinical requirement to notify patients.
"They pretty much told us it is just something that happens, 'autism is a neurological condition, it happens to lots of kids'. And we just continued to say 'this is just not autism, though. We are talking about apraxia of speech, we're talking about motor dyspraxia. We're talking about severe anxiety,'" Danielle said.
Late last year, they connected with a third family who used the same donor.
Maree Anderson's daughter had recently been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as well as speech difficulties, anxiety and was being assessed for ADHD. Her four-year-old son's autism diagnosis was also pending.
"When Maree told me about her children, I literally felt sick," Danielle said. "It just felt like for those three years that we had been fighting, she'd missed out on those years."
Months after Maree informed QFG about her two children, the fertility giant finally decided other families with donor-conceived children should be informed, but only about the clinical diagnosis of autism.
"I did ask about why I wasn't told about all of this other information, and they've never specifically answered that question," Maree said.
"There's been things that have been uncovered that weren't disclosed and I think QFG are forgetting that these are people, these are children, born thanks to them, and I'll be forever grateful for that. "I don't think the duty of care ends when the baby is born."
The donor is still being used by QFG to conceive more children.
In a statement, QFG told Four Corners the donor sperm was only available to patients who had previously used the donor and wanted more children.
"Patients … are required to undertake further clinical and genetic counselling so they have all relevant information to make informed decisions as to whether to proceed."
The three mums are extremely concerned. "There is apparently someone that's pregnant, and there's three embryos that have been created sitting in a freezer ready to make another three families," Danielle said.
"It's continuing to be sold as probably gold-class Australian sperm. "I just don't understand how they can create kids with something that there's a higher chance of it turning into disability. It's just money. It's all it is."
Following further questioning by Four Corners, QFG conceded that there was still one family who used the donor who it had not informed of the diagnoses.
Anastasia and Lexie Gunn are now suing QFG in an attempt to hold the clinic to account.
The fertility giant refuses to concede it used the wrong sperm to conceive two of their children
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)
https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See
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